How to Clean a Mattress (2026): The Complete Step-by-Step Guide

Written by the Or & Zon editorial team · natural bedding specialists · Last updated August 2026

Your mattress is the least-cleaned thing you use the most. You spend a third of your life on it, shedding skin cells, sweat, and oils into it every night — and unlike your sheets, it never goes in the wash. Over time that builds into stains, odours, and a thriving population of dust mites, all sitting inches from your face. The good news is that cleaning a mattress is straightforward, cheap, and mostly hands-off; the process is more about patience (letting things sit and dry) than effort. This guide walks through the complete routine step by step, how to handle specific stains, and how to keep it clean with far less work going forward.

We make the bedding that goes on top, so we care a lot about what's underneath it — and the honest truth we'll keep coming back to is that the easiest mattress to clean is the one you protect so it barely gets dirty.

A clean mattress is the foundation of a fresh bed — and most of the work is patience, letting baking soda and air do the job while you wait.

What you'll need

Cleaning a mattress doesn't require special products — you almost certainly have everything already. Gather these before you start so the process runs in one session.

• A vacuum with an upholstery attachment (ideally with a HEPA filter for allergens)
• Baking soda — the key deodoriser and moisture absorber
• Mild dish soap or an enzyme cleaner for stains
• Hydrogen peroxide (3%) for protein stains like blood and urine
• White vinegar for odours and general spot-cleaning
• Clean white cloths (white so no dye transfers) and a spray bottle

How to clean a mattress: the step-by-step routine

Here's the complete process, in order. Budget a day for it — not because it's laborious, but because the two most important steps (baking soda and drying) both need hours of doing nothing.

1. Strip the bed and wash all the bedding — sheets, protector, pillowcases — on the hottest cycle the fabric allows, so you're not putting dirty linens back on a clean mattress.
2. Vacuum the entire mattress with the upholstery attachment: the whole top surface, the sides, and into every seam and crevice where dust and mites collect. Do this before anything wet.
3. Spot-treat stains according to what caused them (see the stain guide below). Always blot, never rub, and use cool water on protein stains.
4. Deodorise with baking soda: sift a generous, even layer over the whole mattress. Leave it at least a few hours — ideally overnight — so it draws out moisture and neutralises odours. For extra deodorising, mix a few drops of essential oil into the baking soda first.
5. Vacuum off the baking soda thoroughly once it's had time to work. The surface should now smell fresh and feel dry.
6. Let the mattress air out and dry completely. Open windows, run a fan, or let sunlight in if you can — sun is naturally antibacterial. Do not remake the bed until there is zero moisture left.
7. Add a clean protector and fresh bedding. The mattress is now clean; keep it that way with a washable barrier on top.

Removing stains by type

Different stains need different chemistry — using the wrong approach can set a stain forever. Here's how to treat the common ones, with links to our full protocols for the trickiest.

The pattern across all of them: blot up as much as you can, work from the edge of the stain inward, use cool water and the right cleaner rather than heat and scrubbing, and finish with baking soda to lift residual moisture and odour. For the two hardest and most common — urine and blood — our dedicated guides walk through fresh-versus-set-in protocols in detail.

One principle underlies every stain on that list and deserves emphasis, because it's where people go wrong: speed beats strength. A fresh stain blotted within minutes with nothing but cool water and a cloth comes out far more easily than a set-in stain attacked days later with the strongest cleaner you own. The moment something spills, the priority is to blot up as much liquid as possible before it penetrates deeper — press a dry cloth down firmly and lift, repeating with fresh sections, rather than wiping (which spreads it). Only once you've removed the bulk of the liquid do you reach for a cleaning agent. Getting to a stain quickly, with gentle materials, will save you more mattresses than any miracle product used too late.

The layers on top do the real work: a washable protector and breathable, hot-washable bedding keep sweat and oils out of the mattress in the first place.

Which cleaning agent for which job

A handful of cheap household products cover every mattress-cleaning task — the trick is using the right one for each job, since they work by different mechanisms.

Notice what's not on the list: chlorine bleach (too harsh, damages and yellows the mattress), hot water (sets protein stains), and heavy soaking of any kind. Gentle, targeted, and dried-out is the whole philosophy of mattress cleaning.

How to deep clean a mattress

The routine above is a deep clean, but a few extra steps take it further for a mattress that's been neglected, smells musty, or belongs to someone with allergies. First, if the day is warm and dry, take the mattress outside for a few hours — direct sunlight and fresh air are genuinely antibacterial and deodorising, and this alone revives a stale mattress. Second, for stubborn deep odours, leave the baking soda on for a full 24 hours rather than a few, or repeat the baking-soda cycle twice. Third, an upholstery-grade steam cleaner can sanitise the surface, but use it sparingly and only if you can then dry the mattress completely — over-wetting a mattress is the fastest way to grow mould inside it, which is far worse than the surface grime you started with.

Remember to clean both sides if your mattress is flippable, and rotate it while you're at it to even out wear. For allergy sufferers, pairing a deep clean with allergen-proof encasement and a hot-wash bedding routine makes the biggest difference — the mattress is one of the largest dust-mite reservoirs in the home.

How often should you clean a mattress?

Mattress cleaning works best as a light, regular rhythm rather than a rare deep overhaul. Here's a realistic schedule.

The single biggest lever here is the weekly one: the more diligently you wash a protector and sheets, the less the mattress itself ever needs deep cleaning. Households that keep a protected, regularly-laundered bed rarely have to do more than the occasional vacuum-and-baking-soda refresh.

The real secret: protect it so you barely have to clean it

Here's the honest, slightly anticlimactic truth about mattress cleaning: the best strategy is to keep the mattress from getting dirty in the first place. Almost everything that soils a mattress — sweat, body oils, skin cells, the occasional spill — has to pass through your bedding first. Put the right barriers in place and the mattress stays clean with almost no direct cleaning at all.

Three layers do the work. A washable, breathable mattress protector is the front line, catching moisture and spills before they soak in — and you simply launder it with your sheets. A top sheet or duvet cover adds another washable barrier between you and the mattress. And breathable natural-fibre bedding that you can hot-wash weekly means the sweat and oils you produce end up in the laundry rather than the mattress. Set that system up once and mattress "cleaning" becomes a quarterly vacuum-and-freshen rather than a dreaded scrubbing session. It's the difference between maintaining a clean mattress and rescuing a dirty one.

Why a clean mattress matters (it's not just freshness)

It's worth understanding what actually accumulates in a neglected mattress, because it reframes cleaning from a chore into basic hygiene. Over years of use, a mattress collects a surprising load of biological material — and each type is a reason the routine above matters.

For anyone with allergies, asthma, eczema, or sensitive skin, this is exactly why a clean, protected mattress makes a real difference to how you feel — you're removing the allergen reservoir you breathe against for eight hours a night. Even for everyone else, it's the difference between a bed that smells fresh and one that quietly turns stale.

Mistakes people make cleaning a mattress

• Using hot water on stains. It permanently sets protein stains like urine, blood, and sweat. Always use cool or cold water.
• Over-wetting the mattress. Soaking it invites mould inside. Use minimal moisture and dry completely before remaking the bed.
• Skipping the vacuum. Going straight to wet cleaning grinds dust into a paste. Always vacuum first.
• Not letting baking soda sit. It needs hours to absorb moisture and odour — a quick sprinkle-and-vacuum does little.
• Remaking the bed before it's dry. Trapped moisture breeds mould and mildew. Confirm it's bone-dry first.
• No protector. Cleaning a bare mattress over and over is a losing game — a washable protector prevents most of the mess.

Frequently asked questions

How do you clean a mattress?

Strip and wash the bedding, vacuum the whole mattress with an upholstery attachment, spot-treat stains with cool water and the right cleaner, then sprinkle baking soda over the surface, leave it a few hours, and vacuum it off. Let the mattress dry completely before remaking the bed.

How do you clean a mattress with baking soda?

Sift a generous, even layer of baking soda over the entire mattress and leave it for at least a few hours (overnight is better) so it absorbs moisture and neutralises odours. Then vacuum it all off thoroughly. Adding a few drops of essential oil to the baking soda boosts the deodorising.

How do you get stains out of a mattress?

Blot up any liquid, then treat by stain type — protein stains like urine and blood need cool water with hydrogen peroxide or an enzyme cleaner, never hot water, which sets them. Work from the edge of the stain inward, blot rather than rub, and finish with baking soda to lift residual moisture.

How often should you clean your mattress?

Do a full clean every three to six months, vacuum the surface monthly, and wash your sheets and protector weekly. Treat spills immediately, since fresh stains lift far more easily than set-in ones. A regularly-washed protector dramatically reduces how often the mattress itself needs cleaning.

Can you clean a mattress with a steam cleaner?

You can use an upholstery steam cleaner to sanitise the surface, but sparingly — and only if you can dry the mattress completely afterward. Over-wetting a mattress traps moisture inside and causes mould, which is worse than surface grime, so steam with caution and heavy ventilation.

How do you get the smell out of a mattress?

Baking soda is the answer: cover the mattress, leave it several hours to absorb odours, then vacuum. For stronger smells, leave it on for 24 hours or repeat, air the mattress in sunlight if possible, and address any underlying moisture, which is the usual cause of persistent mustiness.

How do you dry a mattress after cleaning?

Air-dry it thoroughly before remaking the bed: open windows, run a fan, and let in sunlight if you can. Never sleep on or cover a damp mattress — trapped moisture leads to mould and mildew inside. Depending on how wet it got, allow several hours to a full day.

Does cleaning a mattress get rid of dust mites?

Vacuuming removes many dust mites and their allergen from the surface, and washing bedding hot kills those in your sheets. For a serious dust-mite problem, pair cleaning with an allergen-proof encasement and low bedroom humidity, since the mattress is one of the biggest dust-mite reservoirs in the home.

Can you clean both sides of a mattress?

Yes, and you should if the mattress is double-sided or flippable — clean and vacuum both sides, and rotate or flip it to even out wear while you're at it. Many modern mattresses are one-sided, in which case clean the top and sides thoroughly.

What's the best way to keep a mattress clean?

Use a washable, breathable mattress protector and wash it weekly with your sheets, add a top sheet or duvet cover as a second barrier, and choose breathable natural-fibre bedding you can hot-wash. This keeps most sweat, oils, and spills out of the mattress so it needs little direct cleaning.